Chivas USA Supporter Group: The Black Army 1850

They sit in The Home Depot Center’s Section 138. They don’t dress like your typical Chivas USA fan, but they bleed the club’s colors. They are the Black Army 1850.

Kicking off as an official Chivas USA supporter group in the 2010 season, the Black Army 1850 aims to make Chivas USA a Los Angeles brand. And there’s so much more to their name than the obvious. The group chose the color black to stand-out from the rest of the supporter groups that typically wear the team’s colors. They consider themselves to be an army because they want to be an organized movement.

“The color black is an intimidating color, it’s the color of darkness, anger, aggression,” said the Black Army’s 1850 patch member Angel Mendoza. “It’s what we believe a supporter group is supposed to be; instilling fear in the opponent. We’re that extra help that the team gets.”

But one must wonder, why 1850?

“The 1850 is the year California and Los Angeles became incorporated into the Union,” said Mendoza. “We want Chivas USA to be an American brand. As a group, we disagree with the comparison that Chivas USA as the Mexican MLS team when we’re not; we’re in an American league, in the United States and in Los Angeles.”

The Black Army sets out to not just help Chivas USA, but the Los Angeles Community as well. Just last month, the Black Army held a Backpack Drive that aimed to raise school supplies and backpacks for needy children in Hawthorne and have participated in Chivas USA community events, such as the Beach Clean-up held last year in Torrance Beach.

Aside from focusing in the Los Angeles community, the Black Army already has four road trips to help cheer on Chivas USA. This year, the Black Army will travel to the match against Real Salt Lake this weekend, Portland on July 28, Colorado on August 18, and San Jose on September 2nd.

“We don’t care if you’re black, yellow, green, blue, or your sexual orientation, religion, political views, as long as you’re supporting the club, we support you,” said Mendoza.

Thinking about joining a supporter group? Check out all of Chivas USA’s supporter groups clicking here.